Construction of the new St. Anthony Falls Bridge to replace the Interstate 35W bridge that collapsed in August 2007 in Minnesota is proceeding well ahead of schedule. Originally scheduled to open by Dec. 24, 2008 — 437 days after the initial collapse — the rapid-fire design-build schedule had the structure 70 percent complete by mid-June, with an expected opening date of mid-October, if not before.
Since the last DATELINE report, workers have finished foundation work, poured footings and completed piers. Footing and pier pours continued through the winter months, as long as the temperature remained above 20 below zero.
Workers built heated sheds to allow the pre-cast segments to be cast and cured during the winter months. They built the steel falsework for cast-in-place segments at the bridge approaches, built support structures for cranes to lift the pre-cast main span segments into place and shored up retaining walls. A concrete crusher demolished the remains of the old roadway, which were recycled for the base of the new one as well.
With the pre-cast segments complete, crews hauled them to Bohemian Flats, where they were loaded onto barges for the final leg of their journey to the bridge site. Once there, the ringer crane, Big Ben, could begin lifting the segments into place.
While the segments are being lifted into place, the navigation channel under that area is closed to all traffic until the construction work for that day is complete, usually 12 hours.
Throughout the project, crews worked around the clock on both sides of the river and in the casting yard. They expect to install up to four of the 120 the pre-cast segments each day.
In addition to the construction milestones, the community outreach initiative surrounding the bridge construction continues as well.
Project representatives have installed touch-screen kiosks in the lobby of the Mill City Museum and the main mall of the Minneapolis airport. The kiosks have background and overview information about the project, links to a photo gallery and webcam and animations showing the finished bridge from a variety of viewpoints.
Across the state, extreme weather conditions — including heavy rains and hail — have multiplied road repairs and forced state officials to close a number of roads and bridges. Despite these challenges, the Minnesota Department of Transportation now has a plan to improve state highways and bridges extending through 2018. It specifically addresses bridges that are either “fracture critical” or that have low sufficiency scores.
The $2.5 billion plan includes major replacement projects such as Interstate 90 over the Mississippi River near Dresbach, the I-35E Cayuga Bridge in St. Paul and the Highway 36 St. Croix River crossing south of Stillwater.
Stay tuned to DATELINE for the latest updates on this mammoth design-build project.
DBIA Needs Wastewater Proposals
DBIA will accept cutting-edge, innovative session proposals featuring seasoned and experienced presenters and/or panelists for the 2009 Design-Build in Water/Wastewater Conference until August 28, with selected presentations to be delivered at the March 4-6, 2009, conference in Denver.
While all submissions receive equal consideration, DBIA specifically seeks coverage in the following areas:
Design-Build Essentials
- Getting a first design-build project off the ground.
- The right procurement strategy.
- Effective development of performance-based specs.
- Building the right team – source selection strategies.
- Utilizing design-build to achieve sustainability goals.
Conquering Legal Hurdles/Mitigating Risk
- Legislative update — design-build laws and what is the outlook for the future.
- How industry can increase design-build utilization.
- Innovative strategies for determining allocation of risk.
- Managing risk between prime and specialty contractors.
- Understanding and managing sub-surface/geo-technical risk.
- Strategies to prepare for, manage and share cost escalation.
Emerging Issues/Industry Trends
- Innovative water supply financing.
- Public-Private Partnership (PPP) case studies.
- Understanding and managing life cycle costs.
- Operations and finance.
- Climate change impacts.
- Design-build and performance-based solutions for energy recovery/optimization and greenhouse gas emissions.
DBIA will notify selected presenters at the end of September.
If selected, presenters must agree to submit a draft presentation by Oct. 6, 2008. Final presentation papers, PowerPoint presentations or substantive binder content (text, graphs, charts, illustrations, etc.) are due Jan. 16, 2009.
To submit, please go to www.designbuildwaterww.com. Please follow detailed submission instructions. Incomplete submissions or those not entered online will not be accepted.
Please direct questions to Mihisha Henderson, director of education logistics, at mhenderson@dbia.org
Vegas Golf Tourney Nov. 2
Networking can begin early at the 2008 Design-Build Conference & Expo this year as DBIA will hold its first-ever golf tournament. Join fellow conference goers at the Siena Country Club, just minutes from the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, the home of this year’s conference.
The tournament will be a team scramble format with a variety of prize opportunities with a putting contest, a prize for a hole-in-one, the longest drive, “closest to the pin” and many others.
Golf tournament proceeds will support DBIA’s new Strategic Policy Initiative Fund (SPIF).
The fund is designed to expand advocacy and outreach efforts to the design-build community and increase public understanding of integrated project delivery. It’s a great way to kick off a great conference.
So, with most components of this year’s conference in place, it’s now up to you to register for the conference as well. This year, DBIA offers four education tracks: The Owner Perspective, Legal Issues, Specialty Contractor Integration and Integrated Processes.
Attendees will also hear from some of the top names in the industry and others who should make this year’s conference the best ever.
Headlining the conference are Don Shula, NFL Hall of Fame coach; Anthony A. Marnell II, CEO and chairman of the board of Marnell Corrao Associates Inc.; and Norbert W. Young, FAIA, president of McGraw Hill Construction.
There’s also still time to become an exhibitor, but space is filling up fast. Don’t miss out on the biggest design-build event of the year. Visit www.designbuildexpo.com today.